ASIA & OCEANIA
APAC – ICE Asia Digital 2020 has announced further details on its lineup of new speakers and agenda. Scheduled to be held as a virtual event from Monday 8th to Wednesday 10th June 2020, the ICE brand’s inaugural Asia show will cover topics that the regional Asian gaming industry will face in the coming months and years post-COVID-19.
Day one of ICE Asia Digital will begin with a keynote discussion by Andrea Domingo, the Chairwoman and CEO of PAGCOR. This will be followed by a focus on the outlook of Asian regional gaming in a post COVID-19 world, including discussions around the state of the markets and what regional recovery may look like in the coming months.
end after Macau’s transition from Portuguese hands to Chinese ownership, however, this is not to say that he was no longer involved in the highly competitive market. Two of Stanley Ho’s legitimate 17 children were intricately woven into the new Macau gaming infrastructure, with Lawrence Ho the chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment and Pansy Ho a co-owner of MGM Grand Macau.
Te Australia-based Crown Entertainment and US-based MGM have come under intense scrutiny due to their links to the Ho siblings. MGM’s partnership with Pansy Ho was particularly tested when Mr Ho senior’s apparent links with Chinese organised crime proved a hindrance for future business with Pansy’s business partners.
And despite a lucrative partnership with Lawrence Ho in Macau, Crown Entertainment has been forced to abandon its partnership in order to proceed with new licensing opportunities in Australia, as the country’s Gambling Commission sought to block any future licence tenders if Crown remained connected to the Ho family.
Te reason such ill-matched partnerships between Stanley Ho’s children and publicly traded businesses was necessary, was due to the fact that when the government liberalised the gaming sector, ending the monopoly held by Ho, it introduced three concessions. Tese concessions, linked to Ho and his family, would become six sub-licences granted to mostly US- based companies including Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts and Las Vegas Sands, with SJM (Sociedade de Jogos de Macau) the company still owned and operated by Stanley Ho and Galaxy
Entertainment a Hong Kong-based regional operator. Bloomberg currently estimates Ho’s family empire to be worth $14.9bn (£11.4bn), though a spat between rival factions in 2011 became front page news before it ended with an agreement.
Ho was reluctant to retire and only officially stepped down from SJM in 2018 at the age of 96, handing over the reins to his daughter Daisy and Angela Leong, his fourth wife. Ho’s death comes at a critical juncture for his family’s commercial empire and its flagship holding company, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, as it battles a host of keen competitors including US gaming companies. All of Macau’s casino licences will be up for renewal in 2022.
Since the announcement of Mr. Ho’s death, shares of businesses with shares in the family empire have boomed on expectation of ownership changes involving family members. SJM increased by 8.5 per cent, transport company Shun Tak Holdings increased by 17.6 per cent and casino group Melco International Development increased by 4.9 per cent.
Kenny Ng, a Hong Kong-based analyst at brokerage Everbright Sun Hung Kai, said: “Te market is expecting a scramble for inheritance. Under these circumstances there might be changes in company ownership, with some shareholders increasing their stakes.”
Steven Leung, a sales director at UOB Kay Hian, said: “Investors are keen on SJM in anticipation that it will become more aggressive in its business approach on the back of stronger control of the company and closer ties among its major shareholders.”
The panel will include Alidad Tash of 2nt8 Ltd., Kevin Clayton previously of Galaxy Entertainment and Sands China and Vitaly Umansky of Sanford C. Berstein. This will be followed by a panel on the regulatory impact that COVID-19 will have on the gaming sectors throughout Asia and include Jamie Nettleton of Addison, Ranjana Adhikari of Nishith Desai Associates and Lau Kok Keng of Raja & Tann Singapore. Additional topics will include a discussion around the marriage of digital and land-based gaming operations led by Jonathan Pettemerides of Rank Group and a detailed review around Australian regulations which will be led by Michael Sarquis, Executive Director of the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
Day two of the event will begin with another keynote presented by Andrea Domingo of PAGCOR. This will be followed by a panel discussion around the re- opening of casinos in Asia and what the “new normal” will look like from an operational perspective.
The panel will be chaired by Jose Angel Sueiro, Chief Operating Office of PH Resorts. Following the panel discussion, Steve Wolstenholme, Acting CEO of HOIANA Casino, will give his take on the development of integrated resorts and the gaming industry at large in Vietnam.
The regional focus will shift during the second half of Day two to include an update on Japan integrated resort development. Chaired by Brendan Bussman of GMA, the panel discussion will center around the timeline for casino development in Japan and be discussed by Ayako Nakayama of the Japan IR Association, Kazuaki Sasaki of Toyo University and Toru Mihara, Chair of the National Council on Gaming Legislation.
This panel will be followed by a focused exploration into the public consensus of Japan’s casino development by Dominic Carter of the Carter Group. The day will end with a look at Chinese consumerism and tourism by Annie Siara of 86 Connect. There are additional regional topics that will be added to the agenda in the coming days, including more content around the Macau and Korean markets.
The event concludes with a third day dedicated to Gaming training, hosted for free by the international course provider Totally Gaming Academy.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P27
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